NGOs: A Double-Edged Blade - Essay Example

 NGOs: A Double-Edged Blade? Course Title Tutor University Affiliation Department Date Introduction In the last 4 decades, the world has witnessed an exponential growth in the civil society. As of the year 1993, there were over 28,900 international NGOs worldwide. Out of this number more than 20,000 NGOs were based in Third World countries (Mujih 2012). Without doubt, the rise of NGOs after the end of the Cold War era was met with high approval since most of the charity societies sought to help failing economies attain stability. Most of these countries came from the Third World Countries and states marred with Civil Wars. The rise in international NGOs and networks subsequently opened the doors for more donor agencies that offered to support NGOs achieve their objectives (Hagmann & Reyntjens 2016). On the flipside, however, the modern face of International NGOs and Networks has not been spared from public ridicule and scrutiny. Critics and ethicists from all divides have questioned the incentives that drive modern NGOs. From corruption and accountability claims, poor imagery of poverty in African countries and pyramid schemes. It is safe to say that the face of NGOs and Charity Societies has gradually become a reflection of untrue benevolence. These issues have led to public debates on whether Charities really are for social change or just out on money minting expeditions. Consequently, these thorny issues are discussed below. NGOs as a symbol Poverty in failed States Arguably, most of the International Charity Societies have won the battle from different perspectives. Many countries particularly in Africa have benefited from services offered by NGOs (Islam 2016). For example, drought stricken countries such as Namibia, Ethiopia and even Kenya have in the past seen the benefits of food providence programs offered by NGOs, areas with little or no social amenities like schools and hospitals seen projects to cater for the same started and timely completed. In the long run, children have had access to education and proper Medicare in such countries. However, the downsides to these acts of philanthropy loom larger than the benefits. According to critics, NGOs are no longer the forces that used to push for social change but are now the forces that inspire inequality, exclusion and abject poverty in Third World Countries. Lancaster (2010) advices that the effectiveness of international aid has to be put to question. He points that Sub-Saharan Africa alone has seen over $130bn pumped towards her development in recent years (Lancaster 2010). Ironically, it has turned out to be one of the most notoriously poor regions on the face of the earth. With such staggering figures, the critics can’t surely be blamed. Their calls are not based on unfounded hearsays but on statistical data obtained from Charity Agencies. This wastage of funds, according to recent studies is one of the most common complaints against NGOs. Murdie (2014) adds that there exist ulterior motives in the charity sector and that it is about time we accepted it. In support of Murdie’s view, Joshi (2003) says that for quite some time now, international aid by NGOs has been used as a way to influence control by corporations and governments alike on poor countries. Jakupec & Kelly (2016) further say that NGOs gradually inculcate an attitude of overdependence and reliance on foreign aid into individuals from impoverished countries. As Moyo (2009) posits, foreign aid creates an attitude of the “Westerners will deal with it” among African leaders. In a nutshell, the leaders who are expected to help the citizens overcome social challenges abandon their responsibilities and leave them to Western philanthropists. The governments hence, show a sense of irresponsibility and inability to manage her economy. This eventually hinders development of such countries because most of the affected people do little to alleviate the status quo but rather sit waiting for philanthropists. Other critics see NGOs as the main source of corruption that affects Third World Countries. This is in light of the fact that incompetent regimes misuse the funds rolled out for humanitarian needs. Politicians and self-centered individuals use funds offered by NGOs to enrich themselves and market their own interests. The ultimate result is a failing state with a staggering economy. Countries like Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe are just but a few examples of weakening states affected by several internal and external factors such as corruption, ethnicity and huge debts from foreign agencies. Another problem that comes with overreliance on NGOs and International networks is the effect that free food given by such aid groups have on local farmers. For instance, in some situations that barely require emergency aid, relief food is still delivered from developed countries for free. The long-term effect is that the production of local food by farmers is under-cut and consequently the economy weakened (Mujih 2012). In light of this fact, Joshi (2003) believes that poor people are able to do things by themselves and even work towards improving the economies of their countries but NGOs are barely giving them the chance to do so. Joshi thus, suggests that if NGOs have the genuine drive to help developing states, then the needed type of aid should be one that allows the recipients of donor funds and relief food ability to develop themselves. For example, help that enhances food production through crop farming. Another case study that shows how NGOs do more harm than good to developing nations is the sorry state of affairs in Bangladesh. Being at the apex of the countries with the world’s largest national NGOs (Islam 2016). Bangladesh was expected to experience a significant amount of development. However, even with the NGOs operating as parallel governments, most of the recipients of foreign aid in Bangladesh still remain further down the poverty line. Despite the fact that these Charity Organizations have existed Bangladesh for more than a century, the state of the impoverished has barely shown any signs of improving. It has on the contrary continued to rise every hour of every day. Islam (2016) says that Bangladesh is bandit economy with millionaires and Million beggars in equal measures. Similarly, critics like Moyo Views the portrayal of humanitarian conditions in Africa as a ‘pornography of poverty.’ According to Moyo (2009) the use of impoverished and malnourished babies to portray the general situation in Africa and other Third World Countries is one-sided and misleading. It is an imagery that mocks the overall populace of people in affected countries while at the same time trying to invoke empathy into philanthropists to dig deep into their pockets and offer contributions. In as much as the use of such pictures are meant to beseech for help from developed countries, Hagmann & Reyntjens (2016) assert that the perception of such images by individuals in developed countries may be quite different from the intended message. For example, rather than see the countries affected as in dire need of humanitarian help, they at times perceive them as war-torn nations marred with incessant conflicts, corruption and animosity that lead to such situations. Even though Moyo’s criticism seems harsh, the reasoning behind it is entirely true and depicts the problematic thorn that NGOs have become today. The pictures are mounted everywhere for all and sundry see so as to develop empathy. From shopping malls to churches. These images have even become synonymous with the banners and billboards in major towns and cities. Even at work individuals are frequently besieged with email on national refuge arrangements or human rights issues. In the long run, it becomes boring and negatively portrays Third World Countries as palaces with no positive attributes to admire. In fact, most people from developed countries begin to have negative attitude towards third world countries with the belief that visiting such places may pose one with the risk of becoming bankrupt due to high influx of beggars in the streets. Nonetheless, Lancaster (2010) notes that despite the fact that the forth estate and charity societies are to be held accountable for consistently publicizing these uneven and one-sided pictures, thoughts of matchless quality over underdeveloped nations are profoundly instilled in first world social orders. Well, true to the saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. The existence of starving infants can’t be refuted, but rather such pictures, when constantly rehashed over a seemingly endless amount of time, exceeds reality and gets to be accepted as the true state of affairs in such countries even when they are not. Moreover, Joshi (2003) purports that NGOs and International Networks intentionally center their activities around impoverished people rather than focus their attention to those behind such humanitarian situations because blaming the perpetrators would disappoint capable donors. Their goal is thus to keep everyone happy by imparting politically impartial messages in their crusades. It is also imperative to note that NGOs in the modern world are torn between offering public service to impoverished countries and raising funds to serve their hidden agendas. The headlines that charity organizations have put in the media since time immemorial is that they take funds from donor agencies in order to enhance better humanitarian conditions (Islam 2016). However, this narrative is far from realities on the ground. Recently, Protests in the UK against NGOs were based on the fact that they were masquerading behind masks of benevolence while they busy exploiting the developing world. The claims were that NGOs do not always serve the millions of people who live without clean water or electricity. For instance, they use half the to purchase Porsche cars, more than 25% of the money on employee wages and the remaining 25% to achieve their objectives (Hagmann & Reyntjens 2016). NGOs have also in the past been accused of forgetting their roles of service to humanity but instead promoting and having partial interests in politics. Such can be seen in their act of rebuking those who practice tyranny and violate human rights while on another end they compete with radical religious groups or socio-political organizations that attempt to overtake well known developments; for instance, clothing workers in Bangladesh, the Turkish reforms as well as the ‘Arab spring’ in Egypt. During such movements, NGOs tend to thrive through manipulation of situations or in rare cases real events. That is, they offer safe havens for societal rejects or human rights activists. Thus, it is safe to say that the funding offered by NGOs is in one way or the other a form of blackmail that indebts or insures the host country to constant borrowing in case of future humanitarian crisis. According to recently published empirical research on the funds that come out of and get into Africa, the data shows a worrying trend. The report challenges the predominant assumptions that international aid and development programs help majority of African economies. The report indicates that Africa loses more than £190bn to the rest of the world each year whereas it receives a paltry £130bn in return. The overall net loss that Africa as a continent suffers is close to £55bn annually. Out of the £190bn annual losses that Africa incurs, she gets only £30bn in terms of aid funds (Hagmann & Reyntjens 2016). It is crystal clear that there may never be a solution to the current state of Africa and other developing nations continue to be impoverished. Yet despite these damning evidence, NGOs still remain unbowed and continue to advocate for funds that barely benefit host nations Indubitably, the arguments above clearly portray NGOs as a symbol of poverty in failed States. Going by the numerous relevant examples listed in this study, one can infer that where there are NGOs or International Charity Networks there is bound to be a humanitarian crisis. Further, the fact that most charity organizations are found in third world countries make the whole situation complicated. The key question that remains unanswered however, is why have these countries stagnated in underdevelopment despite financial support from abroad? Even though NGOs have been put on the spotlight in this study, they are not entirely to blame for the problems in Third World Countries. Take for instance the role the governments in most of the affected countries play in alleviating the status quo. Well, it is safe to say they have put little efforts to avert the problems. As in, limited steps have been taken to secure public funds from embezzlement, proper policies have not been put in place to curb problems like draught and lastly huge foreign debts have made it impossible to adopt a culture of self-dependence. They are therefore part of the problem and consequently should be part of the solution. Solution and recommendation It is quite a huddle to try and defend such comprehensive arguments based on empirical evidence as seen in this paper. However, with more than 220 million people suffering from malnutrition in Africa and beyond, is it about time that NGOs called it a day and closed their activities in the host nations? Definitely it would be catastrophic. Should those in the West simply sitback and watch with little help to offer? This too would be disastrous (Islam 2016). The point is that we have to learn from these arguments and make humanitarian aid more efficient and beneficial to those that need them. Humanitarian aid from a personal perspective will consequently be effective if it is delivered and carried out by locals. Everyone would be happy to selflessly work together with NGOs in order to promote equality, eliminate poverty and fight corruption. However, that cannot be possible if the dirty image of the NGO continues to dwindle to the drains. More must be done to redress the matters mentioned in this paper. Likewise, NGOs should deliver their services with no strings attached. By targeting the base of the problem and approaching it with the incentives to empower the locals overcome it. More people will have better control of their lives, few children will die of hunger and corruption will be a forgotten menace. In conclusion, accountability should not therefore be pointed towards the donors but to those that the funds are meant to benefit. Charity societies should battle corporatism with as much vigor as possible. NGOs should perceive the force of casual systems, take advantage of the shrewdness of the road and re-adjust their assets. References HAGMANN, T., & REYNTJENS, F. (2016). Aid and authoritarianism in Africa: development without democracy. ISLAM, M. (2016). NGOs, Social Capital and Community Empowerment in Bangladesh. Singapore, Palgrave Macmillan. JAKUPEC, V., & KELLY, M. (2016). Assessing the impact of foreign aid: value for money and aid for trade. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=1093870 JOSHI, N. C. (2003). Third World economy: problems and prospects. New Delhi, National. LANCASTER, C. (2010). Aid to Africa: so much to do, so little done. Chicago [u.a.], Univ. of Chicago Press. LEMENTS, B. J., BHATTACHARYA, R., & NGUYEN, T. Q. (2005). Can debt relief boost growth in poor countries? http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=449609. MOYO, D. (2009). Dead aid: why aid is not working and how there is another way for Africa. London, Allen Lane. http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/181422969.html MUJIH, E. (2012). Regulating multinationals in developing countries: a conceptual and legal framework for corporate social responsibility. Farnham, Surrey, Gower Pub. MURDIE, A. (2014). Help or harm: the human security effects of international NGOs. Read More